What I’ll do next

At women’s marches, rallies at airports and other demonstrations across America, protesters have been vocal in the dawn of Donald Trump’s presidency. We asked those who have participated how they plan to stay active, and we heard from more than 900 people in 44 states, plus D.C. and some U.S. territories. Here’s what they said.

1 of 24

Gaile Schwickrath, 42

Platteville, Wis.

I am running for my local school board. My attendance at the march bolstered my motivation to be more involved in my community and to encourage others to do the same.

Attended: Women’s March on Washington

2 of 24

Merritt Gill, 30

Louisville

Recently, I became a volunteer with
Kentucky Refugee Ministries. I set up an apartment for a Sudanese man just days before President Trump’s travel ban went into effect. I bought him groceries, made his bed and set up his bathroom. I am thankful for the opportunity to help and grateful he arrived in time.
Last month’s protest was the first political rally I’ve attended in 10 years. I plan to attend every one I can until something is done to stop Trump’s and chief White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon’s policies. With the 2018 midterms around the corner, I plan to volunteer for my congressman, Rep. John Yarmuth (D), and do everything I can to get out the vote. Trump’s willful destruction of civil liberties needs to stop before it is too late to fix the damage he is causing.

3 of 24

Nancy Willoughby, 60

Columbus, Ohio

I have never been politically active, but in these positively terrifying times, I feel that none of us can sit on the sidelines. I have subscribed to The Post and the New York Times as well as my local paper and Vanity Fair. I am planning to help with efforts to implement fair redistricting in Ohio. And I joined a Facebook group that is organizing action groups. I plan to assist progressive candidates in getting elected. I am looking into residential solar energy, as we can no longer count on our government to assist with combating climate change. I also chose a Prius as my latest car.

Attended: Columbus, Ohio, women’s march

4 of 24

Aaron Larson, 29

Gresham, Ore.

I bought a copy of the Constitution and will buy a Gadsden flag, because I believe President Trump is already threatening our liberties and the laws and spirit of the Constitution. Holding libertarian beliefs means holding the government accountable, no matter who is in office, and Trump’s gag orders on the Agriculture Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and others don’t comply with the transparency and access to government that my tax dollars support. I’ve submitted an application to volunteer with my city’s
Citizen Involvement Committee. My experience at the women’s march only solidified my beliefs.

Attended: Portland, Ore., women’s march

5 of 24

Angela Gyurko, 49

Port Townsend, Wash.

Our county’s economy is built on small farms and small businesses, most of its citizens are in lower income brackets, and our county
has relatively high unemployment. I am engaging weekly with my federal and state elected officials about the need to continue health-care benefits that many of our citizens have received through the Affordable Care Act if the law is repealed. I also participate in the group Citizens for Healthcare Access, which works at the county level to make sure our citizens have access to health care.

I started working with these efforts immediately after the election, when it became clear that our county’s ability to sustain economic growth depended on the young people driving the economy having access to worry-free, comprehensive health care. The march in Port Townsend, which drew nearly 800 people in a city of 9,000, was a refreshing reminder that my fellow citizens care about these issues.

Attended: Port Townsend, Wash., women’s march

6 of 24

Nadine Bouler, 48

Islip, N.Y.

My biggest plan is a Valentine’s Day thank-you drive: I’m organizing valentines to members of Congress from both parties who have shown strength of character and sound judgment in standing up to President Trump’s agenda. Even a small gesture gets a valentine, as I want to encourage as many positive acts by our representatives as possible. I’ve already sent about 20 valentine cards out and will continue until the 14th — I’m hosting a valentine party this weekend.

Attended: Women’s March on Washington

7 of 24

George Bohmfalk, 69

Charlotte

My experience was very positive, and motivated me to do more. I have called (all numbers have been busy) and emailed my representatives and the majority leaders, and I intend to do more of that. I will definitely participate in future local protests and rallies and may visit my representatives’ local offices. I may attend the
March for Science being planned for April in Washington, as I am a retired physician, as well as other D.C. events. I’m trying to initiate a calm, reasoned dialogue with Trump supporters on Facebook, but only one friend has responded so far. I regret not participating in Vietnam War and civil rights protests in my youth; I didn’t adequately understand the issues. Now is another momentous opportunity to take a stand.

Attended: Charlotte airport immigration-ban protest

8 of 24

Deborah Glaser, 62

Boise, Idaho

I have a renewed vision for my work in education — we must teach people how to read, how to seek support for their views with evidence, how to gain appreciation for the lives of others and how to develop empathy. I am going to support efforts to teach parents how to develop early language that is the foundation, and so critical, to the development of literacy. I am going to renew my efforts to instruct teachers how to teach reading and writing. It is only through a literate society of individuals who can ask the right questions, seek answers based in fact, and think critically that we can avoid another debacle like the one we are experiencing now.

Attended: Boise, Idaho, women’s march

9 of 24

Jinx Howell, 57

Minneapolis

The demonstrations against President George H.W. Bush going to war to save Kuwait from an Iraqi invasion may have helped end that conflict early — who knows? The protests against President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq didn’t seem to have any effect whatsoever. I intend to participate in demonstrations against the Trump administration’s assaults on American values, whether these actions are impactful or not — it’s how I stay sane when I think the country is going mad. It’s affirming to raise your voice and say, “This is what democracy looks like.”

Attended: Immigration ban protest in Minneapolis

10 of 24

Alyssa Rock, 37

Springville, Utah

I consider myself to be centrist and moderate, with sympathies more toward the left on social issues. I have always liked living in a red state because it forces me out of my echo chamber and helps me listen, understand and empathize with people who have views different from mine.

But the November election pushed me more leftward than I am maybe comfortable with. I became less patient with conservatives than usual, in part because I was just feeling so alone living in a red state. So I marched in order to feel like I wasn’t crazy — to see that there were still people out there who cared about the same issues I cared about and would help fight for the same causes. Like other people have said, it was the first time I felt peace since the November results. I’ve resolved to be more politically active, but I can’t decide if I should do so as a Democrat (where my heart is) or as a Republican (where the power in my state is). So I’m still figuring out which issues to fight for and under which banner.

Attended: Park City, Utah, march

11 of 24

Lindsey Paradiso, 28

Fredericksburg, Va.

In February 2016, my husband and I made the heart-rending choice to end our very wanted pregnancy after our daughter was diagnosed with an inoperable life-threatening tumor. We made this decision to end her suffering and bring her a peaceful death as opposed to one filled with great pain. I plan to use our story to influence lawmakers and keep legislators out of the doctor’s office.

On Jan. 26,
I testified to the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in support of SB1424, Restoring Dignity to Informed Consent. Though the bill did not pass, I will return to testify against other bills that are being introduced in an attempt to limit a woman’s access to safe and legal abortions. We must defend our right to bodily autonomy. My experience at the Women’s March on Washington made me more fired up than ever. I have always planned to take my story to Congress in hopes of being a voice for other women like me, but now I am even more prepared to fight, and I am looking forward to participating in more marches and public demonstrations.

Attended: Women’s March on Washington

12 of 24

Anders Pytte, 60

Washington, Vt.

I believe the our democracy is threatened by the assault on fact-based reporting and on the freedom of the press. I disagree with the Trump administration on most controversial issues, but this one is primary because without the possibility of a fact-based political conversation, politics becomes hostage to ideology. In this case, I believe, it has become hostage to the ideology of white nationalism. I plan to remain in communication with my representatives in Congress, attend protests as often as possible and donate to as many organizations as I can that protect the integrity of the press, civil rights and the environment. I will also look for opportunities in my community to support minorities and immigrants, especially refugees.

Attended: Women’s March on Washington

13 of 24

Tracy Segal, 48

Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Three days after the Women’s March in Washington, I put on my pink pussyhat (made by a kind and committed stranger in Oregon and mailed to D.C.) and protested President Trump’s Cabinet nominations with MoveOn outside Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R) office. I’m going to initial planning meetings for a local
Indivisible group and for another group forming from the local women’s march and protests immediately following the election, and I am helping found a local chapter of
Bend the Arc. I’ve been moving between fear, sadness and despair and a sense of hope, energy and purpose. Listening to dharma talks and praying for the world helps me. Volunteering to help the homeless helps me. Being at the march, and now marveling at the pictures, helps tremendously. Having felt betrayed by my state and my country, now knowing that I am not alone — that there are in fact millions of others who share my outrage enough to lace up their shoes and stand in a crowd — helps a lot. I’m hoping that the experience will be a memory I can call up to hold off the despair in the hard days ahead.

Attended: Women’s March on Washington

14 of 24

Kathy Barenbrugge, 49

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

We are unable to vote for president in the territories, and the U.S. Virgin Islands’ government is nearing bankruptcy. My partner and I will turn 50 this year, and we know it is time to take our community-building and change-making to the next level. We have always advocated for the underserved and marginalized, but we realize that we need to do more. The rally really inspired us and made us realize that we aren’t as "woke" as we thought we were. I would like to be a community activist in order to influence policy in policing (less policing, more community building, less black men in prison).

Because we have only one representative in Congress, Del. Stacey Plaskett (D), who doesn’t get a vote, my friends and I here in the Virgin Islands feel that making a call to Congress won’t make a difference (though I have called anyway).

The rally confirmed that I’m not going crazy, that there are others who feel that the policies of the Trump administration and Congress are not normal, and we can’t normalize them. It also made me realize that the discomfort and anxiety I have felt over these past months can be an everyday experience for women of color. I thought I had been in the arena of diversity, but I’ve been sitting up in the bleachers cheering. The rally was my step into the arena. I have lots of amazing black female friends who are looking to me and other white women to see if we will stay in the arena and fight. I cannot let them down.

Attended: Women’s March on Washington

15 of 24

Robert Thayer, 69

Davis, Calif.

I am privileged to live in California, so I plan to work closely with every person in my representative government to make sure California resists all attempts to reduce or erase our forward-thinking, compassionate state policies. I have implored (via letter) our new attorney general’s office to take a page (albeit a mirror-image one)
from Texas and go to work each morning, sue the federal government, come home and repeat the next day. If our state, which yielded almost two votes for Hillary Clinton for every one for Donald Trump, is unable to resist the backward actions of the new federal government to my satisfaction, I will work toward independence for the California Republic.

Attended: Sacramento women’s march

16 of 24

Patricia Noell, 76

Grapevine, Tex.

I demonstrated at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport the weekend of Jan. 28. I will march for science. I will go to my area Democratic Party meeting (for the first time ever). I joined the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For Christmas presents to my children, instead of gifts I made contributions to the Sierra Club, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund,
Grace (an organization that provides local services for disenfranchised and out-of-luck people) and Treehouse (an organization in Washington state that advocates for and helps foster kids). And last fall, I started tutoring Hispanic children at an after-school program.

Attended: San Diego women’s march

17 of 24

Diane Wolfe, 69

Hoquiam, Wash.

I participated in picketing Washington state Republicans’
Roanoke Conference in Ocean Shores, Wash., recently, specifically protesting the party’s war on women and Betsy DeVos’s nomination for education secretary. I also picketed the courthouse in Montesano, Wash., to protest Sen. Jeff Sessions’s (R-Ala.) nomination for attorney general and Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Next up will probably be protesting the Dodd-Frank dismantling and the giveaway to big banks and corporations on investment advice. I am also working on a “lobby day” on Feb. 20 in Olympia to counteract state GOP bills to gut school funding, family-planning funding and the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion. I haven’t been this mad since the 1960s.

Attended: Olympia, Wash., women’s march

18 of 24

Izzy Martens, 23

Washington, D.C.

On Inauguration Day, as a dark gloom fell over the District, with the sound of helicopters and sirens outside, I stayed in my apartment, scared to go out. On Saturday, a new hope had risen. The streets filled with pink hats and passionate voices. We walked in solidarity, peacefully, down the streets of our nation’s capital, asking for our voices to be heard. Judging from President Trump’s first five days in office — they weren’t.

As a young woman living in the District, I am vowing to be a better human being; it’s as simple as that. I am going to march when the causes I believe in ask me to march, I am going to write letters when I think the pen will be the mightiest sword, and I am going to stop and help my fellow human beings when they look as though they are in need. Just this evening, walking down the street, I saw a group of three people struggle to push their car out of the road. The engine had clearly died. Normally, I would’ve walked right on by (I’m not that strong, what could I do?). But, because of Trump, I stopped, and I asked if they needed help. I might be small, but I am big enough to lend a helping hand. Trump unearthed a hate in this world, and we are going to bring back the love.

Attended: Women’s March on Washington

19 of 24

Jim Glenn, 63

Crete, Neb.

I have contacted my political representatives and will continue to do so. I’ve been way too quiet in the past. I’ve engaged in political discussions with those I disagree with, and with those who I agree with. I’ve found some of my Republican friends difficult to talk with because at least one no longer believes that there are facts. I have donated money to the ACLU and plan to renew a lapsed subscription to Mother Jones. I will fill my car with friends who have asked to go to the next demonstration to fight the incompetence and terrible policy that this administration is swimming in. All this in a peaceful manner.

Attended: Immigration ban protest in Lincoln

20 of 24

Barbara Anderson, 82

Fortuna, Calif.

It’s hard to know what to do. My representatives already oppose President Trump’s policies, and I am too old to run for any office. I’m still searching for how to follow up but will not quit the resistance. The women’s march I attended was very positive and encouraging, and surprisingly large for a small, rural community.

Attended: Eureka, Calif., women’s march

21 of 24

Michelle Dotter, 29

Denver

I was planning to attend the Candlelight #MuslimBan Protest in the District but realized I’d miss it because of my flight time. So now I may just be on the Mall this weekend with a sign. I will also be marching in the
People’s Climate March on Denver in April. And whatever needs marching after that. I’ve never been into politics, but it seems like we’re living in a time when that is not an attitude any responsible person can hold. So I’ll be here — for whatever comes next.

Attended: Denver women’s march

22 of 24

Susan Blackwell, 68

Indianapolis

I will continue to engage members of
Pax Christi Indianapolis regarding the immigrant and refugee needs in our city. I will continue to work with and support the
Indianapolis Immigrant Welcome Center. I am a member of
Women4Change Indiana. I will continue to support
IndyCan, a group of multi-faith ministers and congregations who speak for the most vulnerable in our city. I hope to teach community-based workshops for individuals on how to write letters to the editor and to members of Congress. I will continue to educate my grandchildren regarding freedom of the press, the right to assemble and free speech. I will continue to attend rallies and bring my grandchildren as I am able.

I was already active in these organizations but have recommitted to them with a new intensity.

Attended: Indianapolis women’s march

23 of 24

Josh Fulwiler, 31

New Orleans

Since my participation in the New Orleans women’s march, I have been calling my representatives and senators, I have become involved in political discourse and, most significant, I have been educating myself about a host of issues that I have — to this point — been relatively ignorant about. My ambition is to become more active in local political events, and I would like to join the scientists’ march on Washington in April.

As a clinician, I have been deeply disturbed by the changes to our political climate and the way they will affect my field and those I serve. I didn’t consider myself party-affiliated before this election; I would have described myself as a moderate liberal, but I was passionate only about issues that directly pertained to my area of expertise. However, the direction that I see America moving in is not the type of society in which I want to raise children, and I am motivated and energized to do whatever I can to effect positive change.

While I don’t agree with every position represented at the women’s marches around the country, I believe the key to a successful and healthy society is dissent, discussion and a diversity of ideas, opinions and beliefs. The current administration has railed against that, and these problems transcend party politics. My hope is that, through efforts like the demonstrations that have occurred, American citizens will rediscover the importance of political participation, will want to become more educated and informed about what’s happening in our government, and will make their voices heard. I also hope we can continue to strengthen the critical institutions of civil society that allow democracy to work.

I felt discouraged about America’s future when Donald Trump was elected, but the incredible outpouring of political action since his inauguration has given me hope about our future. I believe we can come together as one nation, even with our differences of beliefs, and work toward a common good.

Attended: New Orleans women’s march

24 of 24

Juli Zanocco, 58

Rockford, Ill.

The day after I participated in the women’s march, I attended a
Unity in Diversity
rally at our local mosque in Rockford. It was very well attended, which was inspiring in itself, and the whole weekend left me wanting to do more.

I downloaded the
Countable app so that I can follow what is going in Congress. I have written postcards to my representatives (I can’t get through on the phone lines), and I plan to show up — to meetings, to protests — in support of causes I believe in.

I have never marched nor called a representative before in my 58 years, but they are going to hear from me now!